By Justin Mathis (@J_Math23)
CHARLOTTE — The month of March can be either beautiful or heartbreaking in college basketball, depending on your vantage point.
Coming off the heels of a game-winning shot less than 24 hours earlier, USC Upstate’s reward was a Big South tournament semifinal matchup against top-seeded UNC Asheville. This time, the Spartans ended up on the other side of the coin.
A late spark for the Bulldogs proved to be key, but a charge down the stretch by the Spartans came up just short, as Asheville held on for a 66-62 victory and a spot in the Big South championship game. The Bulldogs will face seventh-seeded Campbell Sunday for the conference title, looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.
A Nick McMullen free throw with 8:07 left in the second half keyed a 12-2 run for Asheville over a four-minute, nine-second span. During the run, Tajion Jones notched a layup and Drew Pember scored five straight points, which put the Bulldogs ahead by a 61-52 margin.
“When we huddled before we went out on that run,” Jones explained. “I told the guys that we needed to get a kill, which is three stops in a row. Our defense is what powers our offense. We just really locked down on defense and that’s what really powered our run.”
“I give a lot of credit to Upstate,” said UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell. “They’ve got guards that put you on your heels for the entirety of the game. This is as deep of a league that I’ve seen in six years of being part of it. I believe that the Big South has as good of coaches as any league in the country. I can assure you that there’s not many better coaches than Dave Dickerson.”
Following the 4-minute media timeout in the second half, the Spartans made a late charge. Trae Broadnax found Justin Bailey on the perimeter for a three-pointer and Ahmir Langlais added a layup to pull the Spartans within two, at a 61-59 margin.
Two possessions later, Caleb Burgess knocked down a triple for a 64-59 Bulldog lead with 1:41 remaining. For Burgess, that was only his sixth make from long distance this season and 30th of the Hofstra transfer’s collegiate career. Not long after that, Jordan Gainey answered with a step-back 3-pointer of his own that cut the deficit back down to a 64-62 margin with 55 seconds left.
After pulling in a defensive rebound, Upstate called its final timeout to draw up one more play. With less than 10 seconds left, Gainey put up a 3-point attempt amid a heavy contest that only drew iron. Asheville guard Fletcher Abee split a pair of free throws to provide the final margin.
“It’s just an unbelievable range of emotions,” said USC Upstate head coach Dave Dickerson. “It was the highest of the highs (Friday) and the lowest of lows this afternoon. This hurts a lot because even though (Asheville) is the best team in the conference, I thought we were better than them.”
“I thought that we were going to win the game. It was just an unfortunate loss for our program and our seniors. I thought we had a chance to be one of the best teams in this conference and have a chance to cut down nets. It’s just unfortunate that we’re not going to get that opportunity.”
Two first-year Spartans — Broadnax and Bailey — became key catalysts as the season progressed, particularly during Big South play. In 18 regular season conference games, Bailey averaged 12.1 points per game, while Broadnax scored 11.8 poinys per contest. Both were quick to point out how they grew on and off the court.
“For me, this is my first time to really play at the collegiate level,” said Broadnax, a redshirt sophomore. “In the beginning, it was a little bit of inexperience, but I feel that I just got more comfortable as the year went on. With as much as we have to deal with as student-athletes, it’s important to find a routine to stick to. As we kept going on, I kept locking in on my routine and getting better with that, too.”
“I think it was just mental reps,” stated Bailey, a true freshman. “From the summer coming in, everybody, including the seniors, took me in and took time to teach. I was blessed with the opportunity to come in and I felt right at home. Off the court, they taught me how to be a leader, what to do and not to do, and that all just revolves on the court as well.”
Broadnax led the Spartans with a team-high 16 points, along with 14 points by Bailey and eight from Gainey. Pember scored a game-high 31 points and 10 boards for UNC Asheville (26-7), followed by 10 points from Jones.
Following Saturday’s result, USC Upstate (16-15) will wait to see if an opportunity to participate in a postseason tournament presents itself.
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